


The Defeat

by Bethesda



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Babysitting, F/M, Family, First Kiss, Fluff, Post-Season/Series 02, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-14 09:31:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5738527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethesda/pseuds/Bethesda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"God, how he hated those kind of things.<br/>The world, in front of him, was half red and half black. There was just a little blue spot: the bloody Kamchatka.<br/>Alec had started really well: he had almost the whole Africa and part of North America. His target was to conquer two entire continents and three more countries. An easy one.<br/>Then how did he end up in that situation?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Defeat

**Author's Note:**

> That's my second story in English.  
> It's not easy, I have to admit it: my vocabulary is not so vast, my grammar lacks are big as the ocean, etc. Also, my style changes completely because of that. But I have to improve my English and this is the only way (sigh).  
> BTW, Alec might look a bit OOC, but he has s many faces that we don't really know. I guess we'll have to wait 'till season 3!  
> Ok, I have nothing more to say. Just a big thank you to Hotaru_Tomoe, whom edited me!

God, how he hated those kind of things.

The world, in front of him, was half red and half black. There was just a little blue spot: the bloody Kamchatka.

Alec had started really well: he had almost the whole Africa and part of North America. His target was to conquer two entire continents and three more countries. An easy one.

Then how did he end up in that situation?

Tom, despite of his young age, was like a little and evil general, cool and pragmatic. He had attacked just a few times, spending most of his turns to collect armies.

Miller, on the other hand, was so bloody lucky with dices. Blatantly lucky.

She was enjoying herself, and wee Fred with her, but they were playing randomly, just for fun.

He knew that it was childish and he should have played cool, but it was surreal: how could he lose against those kind of opponents?!

One of them was even more interested in the colours of the little tanks than to the game itself, since he was too little to understand the rules.

«Your move, inspector».

Alec glanced at Tom.

«Pass».

«Again?», asked the woman, surprised.

The DI put the single tank that he gained in his turn with the other four.

His country was surrounded by red armies, the Miller's one, while Tom was around them. He knew the little boy target: he had to destroy the blue troops. He had no other choice than wait for Miller to do something, like attack her child’s army and let him conquer at last two more countries.

Basically, the woman was protecting him from the defeat.

It was so humiliating, but he couldn't quit.

«In that case is your turn, mom».

«'k. I attack Alaska with three».

«Mom!»

«What?»

«You can't attack me!» 

Ellie frowned, stopping in time for Fred's hand to get one of her dice.

«Why?» 

«I'm your son! Look at him! He has just one country left: you can destroy him!»

«But in that case you'd win».

Tom muttered something.

«Also, being your mother didn't save my possessions in North America. Now, defend yourself».

The young boy snorted and took the dices. He wasn't lucky.

Two dice rolls after, he had lost Alaska and Ellie was becoming more and more strong. 

Alec couldn't help but wait. 

It wasn't actually really boring: indeed, it was quite relaxing to spend some times playing with board games, even with such a distressful one.

It remembered him of when he played with her daughter. She was such a bad loser, and the few times that he hadn't let her win, she had kept an offended attitude for the rest of the evening.

When a few hours before Tom had arrived with the game, he had thought to refuse. Ellie was out for a date and he had been stuck as babysitter.

After ten minutes of complaining, he had to surrender, even if they were just two and the game board needed at last three players. Alec had played two of them, and he was awfully losing with both of them when Ellie had come back.

 In five minutes, without a word and still with her fancy dress on, she had started playing with them.

 

 ---

 

«Ok, I can’t do this anymore», Alec said, frustrated by the situation. «Miller, I’m going to attack you».

«What?!»

«Defend yourself».

«How dare you! I had spent half of the game saving you from Tom, and now you betray me like this?!»

«Don’t take it personally». He threw the dices without daring to look. 

Needless to say, he lost. 

«You let him win!»

Alec frowned, asking himself if she was serious and yes, definitely she was.

«Miller, it’s just a game».

«Don’t “Miller” me! It wasn’t just a game when you had all your troops!»

Tom was ignoring them, too busy dancing in the glory of the moment.

«Ok, I’m sorry. I’m going to clean all this mess just to gain your forgiveness».

«Of course you are: you lose. You have no other choice», she said, lowering her voice: Fred had fell asleep a while before despite of their argument.

 She went upstairs, taking Tom with her and leaving him in the living room, surrounded by the coloured plastic pieces.

She came back silently without her sons. Alec ignored her, waiting for her to speak. He knew that the date didn’t went well. It was crystal clear, but he wanted to wait for her to talk first. She stayed mute and kneeled over the carpet, right in front of him. She looked concentrated on the little tanks, but after a few seconds of silence, she broke it.

«Do you think I’m ugly?»

«What?»

«Am-I-Ugly?», she repeated, already pissed off. And he hadn’t spoken yet.

«What kind of question is this?!»

«A clear one!»

He looked at her, eyes wide open. That wasn’t a fair question. Every answer, even a flattering one, could have been disastrous.

«That’s obviously a trap. I’m not going to answer».

«Oh, come on! Just yes or no!»

«Why are you asking me?!»

She childishly inflated her cheeks and then snorted.

«He—he ended quite abruptly the date».

The DI raised both his eyebrows, but Ellie was feeling quite embarrassed, so she decided to keep her gaze on the carpet, looking for lost tanks.

«He was a nice guy. You saw him when you came for the boys. Also, he was quite handsome».

Alec thought of the man and no, he didn’t looked so handsome to him, but he didn’t wanted to stop her.

«We went for dinner and spent two hours chatting. It was good, really. No embarrassment, just a little bit at the beginning, but it’s normal, I think. It was my first date after, like—I don’t really remember. But I didn’t wanted to hide myself in the bathroom, so it was definitely ok! So, nice chat, nice food. He looked really interested and when we went away for a walk he took me for my hip, so I thought “It’s done: I’m getting laid”--»

«Jesus, Miller!»

«Again, don’t “Miller” me! Of course I went out to do something more than talking, don’t be naïve! By the way, we were talking in his car and I was pretty sure we were going at his place, when we stopped right there, in front of _my_ house. And I’m thinking “Ok, he’s a gentleman: he doesn’t like to rush, I can handle this” when he says “Ok Ellie, it’s been a pleasure. See ya, ok?”».

Silence fell heavily over them.

«In this way?», he started.

«Yes».

«With this tone?»

«Absolutely».

«Without--»

«Without a kiss. He didn’t even went along with me at the door».

Oh God, he wanted to laugh so hard. Not because of Ellie– he sympathized with her -, but he couldn’t stop to imagine her face in that moment.

Finally she sat, legs crossed. Thank God her dress was long enough.

«So, again, am I ugly?»

«Come on, of course it’s not because of your look. He asked you out: he liked you. There must be something else».

«Basically, you are saying that I’m ugly inside! Thank you! That’s even worse!»

Why was he talking with her about this? He was there just to babysit, and it wasn’t really his area, but being downgraded from former boss to gossiper was too much.

«Maybe you said something wrong».

«I’ve said _nothing_ wrong! We talked about our lives and I didn’t told him about Joe, so he didn’t had to run away for this. He knew about the children and he asked about them. It was everything perfect, I don’t un— _shit_ ».

«What now?»

«It’s because of you».

«I beg you pardon».

«We were having a walk, and I don’t really remember what we were talking about, when he asked me who I left the children with. I thought he wanted to know how much time we had to…well, you know, so I told him about you. And he started asking who you were, why we were in such a good relationship and other stuff. _Shit_ », she repeated.

«So, you stated talking about the awesome and idyllic relationship of ours and he run away. Jesus, M--». She looked bitterly at him. «Ellie, you can’t talk about another man while you are on a date».

«He asked me, I answered! It wasn’t anything special».

She spent a few moments lost in her thoughts, then she sank her face in her hands.

«God, I’m such a twat».

He didn’t know what to do. The Risiko box was already in order, closed, right between them. Maybe he should have gone home, but she looked quite down.

Alec raised, walked next to her and sat down, shoulder against shoulder.

«Don’t be sad».

«I’m not sad, I just feel stupid».

«Well, don’t feel stupid».

«Thank you, Scottish Oprah. You really know how to cheer someone up».

He rolled his eyes, asking for more patience.

«Come one, it’s just that bloke’s fault. If I were him, I would have spent the whole night thinking about you, not about the babysitter that you chose».

She raised her head, looking at him, straight in the eyes.

«I’m sorry?»

«Well, yes. You looked stunning when you left».

Did she hear right? Was he making a compliment? That was new, and definitely not unpleasant. She decided to push it a bit more. 

«So, now that I’m here I’m a total mess?»

«What? No! Just…why do you have to twist whatever I say?»

She smiled.

«I’m sorry. It’s just so strange to hear that from you».

He muttered under his breath, looking at his feet.

«So…you think I’m not total garbage», she continued. 

«You really want me to talk?» 

«It would be nice to hear that from you».

 «Why?», he asked, looking at last for her eyes.

 «You always talk shit about everyone: something cute coming from your mouth about my look would rise my self-esteem».

He was really thinking about it: she could hear his gears moving under those scruffy hairs of him. 

«Ok, you definitely look nice».

She raised an eyebrow.

«Nice?»

 «Yes».

 «Are you sixteen?», she said, eyes wide open.

 «You are pressuring me: it doesn’t work like that!»

 «You’ve got performance anxiety just because of that? That’s explains why you don’t have any date _at all_!»

 «Said the woman who talked about me at her amorous!»

 «He was not my amorous!»

 «You wanted him to be».

They both grunted, frustrated by the situation, eyes again on their feet, like if there was something more interesting on their shoes rather than the person next to them.

She raised her chin after a while.

«Ok, let’s try again».

 «Please Ellie, it’s late».

 «You are not making an effort!»

He faced her, eyes in the eyes, his gaze determined.

«You want more effort? Ok. You are gorgeous. That man is a total idiot: he had lost a great occasion, and you know what? I’m grateful, because when I saw you jumping on the car of that bloke, I felt the urge to crush his damn nose. And no, he wasn’t handsome at all. He looked like a jerk, an apparently he is ‘cause you are here with me, and not spending your the night with him, even if we are having this idiotic conversation which is definitely not going to end well».

He stopped, feeling his ears becoming bright red. Maybe she couldn’t see them, being so close to his face in that moment. The problem overshadowed in a few moments, when she grabbed him by the collar to take his lips closer to hers.

She was warm and soft and determined. He let her go on for a while, too surprised to do anything, until he reached her shoulders. He held her thigh, feeling the fabric of her dress rustling under his fingers. She stepped back a little, just enough to let them breath.

«Alec, I’m sorry, I--»

 «Hush».

He reached her first this time, a hand behind her nape, the other one still holding her shoulder, as to keep her there, next to him. His lips became more and more eager and in a murmur she was putting her arms around his neck. He slowly pulled her with the back over the carpet, still kissing and caressing her, over his knees, clinging one of her legs with them. 

«Alec», she started, between a kiss and another. «The kids…are upstairs…»

 «I know».

 «They are going to hear us».

 «Try not to moan».

She pinched his arm, smiling under her breath.

«I’m serious».

 «So am I», he murmured, moving his lips to another target, her exposed neck.

She was so tempted to let it go, but the thought of her children right on their head – asleep, but still… - obligated her to stop him.

«You wanted me to compliment you», he uttered, a smile dancing on his lips. That was so rare. Oh God, she felt so good.

 «Yes, and you did it well. Somehow. But I don’t feel…safe».

 «With me? I’ll do everything just with your consent», Alec joked. What a good kiss can’t do.

 «Will you shut up? You know what I’m talking about».

He smiled once again and stood up, helping her to do the same. They were still a few inches one from each other, lips red and heavy breath.

«This wasn’t meant to happen», she said.

 «Of course».

 «It was totally random and—you kissed me».

He opened his mouth, unable to answer for the first five seconds.

«Wait, what? _You_ kissed me!»

 «Yes, but it’s your fault! You started talking like—I don’t know, you looked jealous of Henry and…»

 «Who’s Henry?»

«My date».

«Oh, yes. The jerk».

She looked at him like if she was going to punch him in the stomach, so he decided to shut up.

«As I was saying, it looked like you cared and I got confused. I never thought you would kiss me back. Actually, I haven’t thought at all».

He stayed silent, looking at her without an expression: he didn’t looked angry, nor sad. He just looked like Alec Hardy, his former boss, friend and the babysitter of her children while she was hanging out with other men.

When he moved to get up, she thought he was going to go back leave. Maybe she offended him, maybe he felt embarrassed and wanted to leave. He helped her to stand up and she was waiting for an excuse coming from him, when she heard the man talking again.

«Can I kiss you?»

«I’m sorry?»

«It’s not such a hard question. Just yes or no. And don’t pinch me again».

She looked for his amber eyes and there was no trace of joke this time. She felt her cheeks burning.

«Yes».

He said nothing. He just bent down her, cupping her jaws with a hand and looking for her lips with his mouth. It was softer and sweeter, and she felt like a teenage girl at her first kiss. He felt so good and she was already changing her mind about the kids upstairs, when he broke the contact, leaving her with a bitter trace of expectation.

«I have to go».

«Do you?»

«It’s late and I don’t think it would be safe to stay here more».

«For you?» 

«No, for you. I’m already restraining myself. Also, we have to work tomorrow and I have a date in the evening».

« _A date_?», she asked, feeling a bit offended. «With whom?»

«With you. See you tomorrow, Miller».

And then he left, like if nothing had happened. He took his coat and went out of the house, almost running.

She didn’t mind. She was pleasantly confused and she could feel his taste on her lips, the scratchy sensation of his beard over the skin. She was basking in her thought, happy, and for once she didn’t mind that he “Millered” her once again.


End file.
